Don Cento

Composer / Songwriter / GuitaristAustin, TX

Composer Reel 2017

Below you'll find a handful of instrumental pieces I've written recently. Though I am a guitarist primarily, this music is not limited to that instrument. These were devised as score pieces for ersatz TV shows / movies. Some work as theme songs and some have more of a narrative shape following a scene that only lives in the imagination. I'm not sure if anybody would be interested in watching these so-called shows, but hopefully the music will move you. Should you be moved to enlist my services as a composer for your project, you may contact me.

ATX Uncensored(ish)

I recently provided some theme music for an Austin-based comedy show ATX Uncensored(ish) which is, regrettably, no longer the air. I'm fairly certain my tune had nothing to do with the cancellation but stranger things have happened. In any event, the theme is presented here for posterity.

Brian is Ironing His Concert T-Shirts

guitars, synthesizers, drums, rock

A Most Mysterious Notebook

While exploring in Aunt Sylvia’s attic, twelve-year old Tana and her little sister Karen find a musty old notebook overflowing with mystical poems and magical powers.(NOTE: These are all MIDI mock-ups, performed not by humans but by a magical computer)

Greetings. I’m Don Cento.

I’m a musician in general but more specifically I play guitar, write songs and sing those songs. I also compose instrumental pieces and I occasionally produce recordings, mix recordings and do some arranging.

I’ve been intimately involved with the guitar since I was in seventh grade which, if memory serves, was around 1985. I was struck by a bolt of lighting in the form of a Flamenco guitar player (Ronald Radford, for the completists out there) during a special performance in band class. Soon after that it was Eddie Van Halen and after that a snowball of guitar players and bands and countless hours in the basement and practice rooms. I matriculated at the University of North Texas and earned my BA in Jazz Guitar Performance in 1995.

Since it all began I’ve had the good fortune to play with a ton of great bands and artists and make a bunch of cool records. I've recorded or toured with Jude, The Tomorrow People, Chomsky, Little Jack Melody, Johnny Burke, Bluesqueezebox, The Barton Hills Choir, Trey Johnson, Jerry David DeCicca and many others.

In 2016 I had a few placements with my band El Cento, most notably in the FOX sitcom Grandfathered. Additionally I provided some theme music for an Austin-based comedy show ATX Uncensored(ish) which is, regrettably, no longer on the air. I’m fairly certain my music had nothing to do with that…